'Sorry there was a problem with apple music'

Do you have an AppleTV? I also have the “problem with Apple Music…” I have HomePods as default for the ATV. After watching something, my HomePods won’t play music unless I turn on the tv and AppleTV and go to music there. Start to play something, then I power everything down. Now the HomePods work as the did before. Siri works, control music from my iPad, etc.

I read prior posts that indicated using your Pod as an output for Apple TV was the culprit and removed it. All works fine now. I tried everything -- all related devices are current, restarted and removed the pod. I am going to go to your link of report of the bug and paste the link to this post. Thanks for sharing it.

I have the same problem. HomePods in a stereo pair connected as default audio for the ATV4k. Need to restart the ATV and start music with the ATV turned on and can continue with it off for a random amount of time after that. The problem seems to coincide with the version 15 software updates to both devices.

I had same problem with my stereo paired HomePod ,I also notice Apple TV+ programs steaming getting pause more frequently When I disconnect Apple TV 4K with HomePod, everything are working well again. (repeat tested)

These are happened after update to tvos15 and HomePod OS 15.

Hope apple fixed these bugs soon.

I'm another one with the same issue. If the HomePod is set as the default audio on my AppleTV then Siri won't play music on the HomePod.

I’m on 15.2 for ATV and HomePod as well. Still seeing the issue. Changing default audio output to the TV speakers solves the problem, and the asked-for music plays through the HomePods — even though I don’t have any TV speakers. And the HomePods are thus effectively disconnected from the ATV. So something in the ATV is clogging up the works here.

Which ATV do you have? I’m using an ATV 4K.

I’d love to solve this. I’m not sure what you mean by “Show me on AppleTV”. I’ve found references to it on the web, but can’t seem to find it anywhere.

I think the problem is with AppleTV and not releasing the HomePods. I turn on my tv and AppleTV everyday, open music there, there is a glitch there too. It takes a couple of attempts, or maybe a certain amount of time before music works. It kind of freezes up. Then I turn off the tv. Then Siri will play music, or I can control on iPhone/iPad. Everything as it should be.

This is definitely a problem with AppleTV not releasing the HomePod/mini speakers. I just tested this with my after having this same issue and as soon as I unchecked the HomePod mini in audio output/temporary audio output I was immediately able to get the minis to play a request through Siri. I have TVOS 15.2 and the AppleTV Hi Def but not 4K.

apple better get its head out of their proverbial you know what because this same issue has been going on for a long time and until I read this thread I wasn’t sure what was happening.

So are you using a different apple ID ATV vs Home App?

I believe the key to get it working with ATV is set the same user or users in Home App (show me on ATV -ON) and ATV. At least that is how I solved it, till apple fixes ATV holding on homePod.

You can add multiple IDs to Home App, just need to invite them to HomeApp and turn on show on apple TV.

I’ve been having this problem too (non stop, started in just the last few days) but I was able to solve mine right now. FYI, my setup is ATV 4K 2gen paired with 2 HomePod mini stereo audio.

Just now asked Siri to play 80s and again got the “problem with Apple Music”. I then had Siri turn on ATV. Once on, using the ATV remote I hit the home button to be on the Home Screen. I then hit the home button twice to bring up all Apps that are open/running. I closed the Tubi and PlutoTV app (swipe up to close). I then had Siri turn off ATV. I waited a minute to confirm ATV was definitely off. I then asked Siri play 80s, success! 80s Music played.

If you’re running Tubi or Pluto, I’d force close these apps, then turn off ATV, then ask Siri to play your music. If the issue is still happening, I’d try repeating the process and force closing any other app that’s running (for me I suspect it was the PlutoTV app, not Tubi).

Hope that helps

Yes, I'm running ATV 4K as well (first gen, not the latest one released in 2021).

Open the Home App on any iOS, macOS, iPad OS device. In the Home App. Click the Home icon on top - In the drop Menu Select "Home Settings" - Next select "people" - You should see "Show me on Apple TV". Make sure it is ON.

Hope this helps

This appears to be fixed with the 15.1 update to TVOS/HomePod. I haven't had a re-occurrence of this issue since installing those updates.

Hello Alex, 

Apple Support Communities is a great place for help with Apple Music and your HomePod. Apple does have a great troubleshooting article that can help with resolving this issue. Those steps can be found in the section titled If “Hey Siri” isn’t responding of the following article. 

If HomePod isn’t responding

Although the title of the article references the HomePod not responding, the steps are helpful for the issue you’re facing. You can also find great troubleshooting steps in the following article. 

Change HomePod settings

Have a great week!

Thank you for those additional details Alex.

With the information you’ve provided, and the issue continuing the next step would be to contact Apple. You can find their contact details via the Get Support website. 

Take care!